Drawing on what we know about space utilization trends, we proposed reducing the number of private offices by two-thirds and increasing the number of open workstations by about one-third. That would increase worker density by 40 percent. The new floor plan would provide 51 different meeting and collaborative spaces—10 times more than before. Those changes would deliver nearly $150,000 in annual real estate savings.

But we knew how to save the company even more. Few employees need a workstation all day, every day, and the company wanted to encourage worker mobility. If the company used the sharing model—three occupants per space—it could potentially triple the head count, a whopping 200 percent increase over the current layout. This model would save nearly $890,000 per year in rent and operating costs.